Treatment A: Surgery and Metformin

Overall, we had results from surgery and metformin from July of 2016 to November of 2016. This window was much much shorter than we had originally anticipated (9 months was the goal). Below gives some details of the progress. and results that we did have.

My husband and I choose to go through with surgery and starting metformin for our initial treatment of PCOS to help us to conceive our first child. The intention of my surgery was to “clean me out” basically giving me a clean slate due to buildup of tissues that weren’t shedding properly and to check for endometriosis. We were trying to get rid of my pain as well as jump start my body to begin ovulating. In June of 2016, I had the surgery done and by July, I saw results! For the first time, I ovulated. Thinking back now, it truly is funny how excited we were. We weren’t pregnant, but we had finally ovulated so we finally had a chance. We had our first true floor of hope. The first cycle after my surgery in July was not accompanied by an overwhelming amount of pain and that was a huge relief. It did not appear that I had endometriosis so my pain was still unexplained. Of course, we had a lot of hope this month and on August 23, 2016 we found out that we were pregnant. On August 29, 2016, we lost our angel. I will have another post dedicated to my miscarriage because a miscarriage is a difficult thing to talk about but it is necessary for me to grieve. I have found through talking to others that we all have some of the same emotions when going through a miscarriage and it is for that reason that I will have a page for nothing but that experience and the emotions my husband and I went through.

After August, we decided to wait a month before trying again so in September we began testing for ovulation again. As with July, we ovulated with no problems and my cycles came and went with no pain until November. Each month with a negative pregnancy test result, however, broke my heart. In my opinion, the metformin and surgery combination worked for a time. For anyone considering neodymium, it does have side effects. For me personally, it took about a full month to get used to the side effects and I have found that staying away from greasy foods and drinking lots of water really helps.

My husband and I agree that we now need to pursue other avenues. Since November, I have not been ovulating and my pain has come back. My cycles have also become irregular again. I do not regret choosing the treatment option that we did and while the pregnancy we did have did not end in the way we hoped, it was an experience that shaped us individually, as a couple, and it will shape us as parents. The pregnancy that we experienced has already made us more appreciative of life and has made us even brought us closer together. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason according to God’s plan.

My mom had sent me a Bible study that she was doing earlier on when my husband and I told our families that we were having trouble conceiving. This Bible study is one that I have pulled up on my phone (I have a picture of it that I will post) that helps to keep me hopeful and encouraged. Every time that I feel heartbroken, I pull up that picture. It is much to easy to get discouraged on the journey with infertility. Many times, couples are afraid to tell anyone because of how the word infertility makes us feel when it is being used to describe us. At first, it made me feel like I was broken in a sense or that I was less of a woman. I am thankful that I have a wonderful husband family who stood by my side and reminded me that none of this was my fault. I have a condition that throws some obstacles our way. Obstacles that we can overcome.

I will have a post coming within the next week on our miscarriage as well as the Bible study Sacrifice, Above and Beyond.